The invention is directed to an enossal single tooth implant, which has a base member, which is inserted in a bore made in a jawbone and has a blind bore extending inward from one end, and an abutment for a crown or dental prosthesis having a centering collar inserted into the blind bore.
DE 195 34 979 C1 discloses a single tooth implant of this species wherein the positive lock region of the base member directly adjoins the coronal face wall thereof. The positive lock section of the abutment is provided essentially immediately following the shoulder of the abutment. Given this implant, moreover, a guide region with a larger diameter than that of the centering region is provided between the positive lock region and the centering region of the base member.
The single tooth implant of the species has in fact essentially proven itself, but it has turned out to be desirable to enhance the mechanical stability even more and, additionally, to simplify the fabrication.
It has also been shown that bacteria or the like can penetrate between the boundary surfaces of the base member and the abutment over the course of time. The recent desire for an effective "biological seal" between the inside of the implant and the oral cavity or, respectively, the gums has not been taken into account as desired, particularly for patients who are especially sensitive to taste and smell. For this reason, a noticeable taste arises, particularly when removing the abutment after having worn it for a longer time and some patients consider this unpleasant. Despite the precision in the working of the surfaces of the base member as well as of the abutment that is currently possible, there is still the problem of a sometimes inadequate seal between the inside of the implant, i.e. the implant chamber that accepts the cervical regions of the abutment and the abutment screw, and the oral cavity. Said seal is not only important to prevent a penetration of bacteria into the implant chamber from the outside but--insofar as bacteria have penetrated into the implant chamber--also because gram-negative, anaerobic bacteria that, insofar as they penetrate into the oral cavity, can easily lead to periodontal processes especially multiply there under the influence of body heat in the dark, anaerobic chamber atmosphere. Overall, thus, a seal of the implant chamber would be desirable in both directions, both from the inside to the outside and from the outside to the inside; this, however, has not yet been satisfactorily achieved in the known single tooth implant for the reasons discussed above.
DE 195 09 118 discloses a single tooth implant with which a mobility of the implant in the jaw or, respectively, jaw bone similar to a natural tooth is to be achieved. To this end, an elastic ring that lies against appertaining seating surfaces of the abutment for the crown and of the base member is inserted between the abutment and the base member. These seating surfaces are of such a nature that the ring is not covered at the outside by the base member and the abutment, so that the abutment can be displaced in the longitudinal direction of the implant and in the direction toward the oral cavity or away from the oral cavity opposite the elastic force of the ring.